What the street tells you

The connections we create often sit in association with the space that holds them, but is that an interpretation of the relationship or the only way it can happen?

• Do we lose the walk when the street changes?
• Can we only connect in one space, and does the connection in one carry to another?
• What do we fear to lose with AI’s invasion?

— What the streets told me. #recognize

Since October of last year, I’ve been on the road. Over eight countries, countless flights, and many streets, all different but streets nonetheless.

And not once have I lost my footing or got bored. See, I love walking. I can do it for hours on end. There is something to taking a step and being in motion that transcends space and time.

On those streets, I found my words and lost my thoughts. I carried my weight in a seamless form that I didn’t even have to think about. I traversed in between tiny streets or pebbled uneven pathways that not a single piece of luggage could survive on.

And while the countries changed and the people were different, the streets and the walk remained. I revel in that. I find it exquisite that time and space disappeared no matter.

And what the streets never failed to tell me again and again is that the walk will always be there. I find solace in that.

— On the streets of Germany. #understand

One of the most recent streets was in Frankfurt, Germany. This has been my second time visiting. In both times, I met a stranger whom we had met virtually many times, but in-person would only be our second.

Virtually we are fellow authors and friends, and we have already worked on many projects together. Virtually we’ve met, and in that space, our connection was built.

Yet our physical presence only met on the streets of Germany for the 2nd time. In a small cafe with our partners, we sat. With a cup of tea and coffee, we sipped through.

The siesta time was approaching, and we fared each other farewell until the next time. We both left, but the connection remained.

On the side of that street, we didn’t feel like strangers even though our connection in the same space was only brief and temporary.

The connection always remained no matter on what street we met. What happened virtually carried over, and the space was no longer a requirement.

— AI meets the streets. #accept

And here we are on the precipice of an era where the prevalence of Artificial Intelligence will create new worlds where the streets no longer need to be visited.

We will walk amongst countries without needing the flight or the jet lag. From the comforts of our home, we will travel, connect, and walk without ever leaving.

And the fear couldn’t be any more real and fast approaching — Will we lose the connections? Will we lose the walks?

When we think about technology as a separate entity invading our space, we will always be losing. Yet when the transition is seamless, the experience becomes an extension — a tightly integrated flow that we can no longer distinguish, and there and then, everything changes.

When the lines blur enough that they meld and disappear, we will come to realize that it is no different than this screen that you are reading on this instance; the interface will meld with the perceiver, and the walk and connection will persist no matter the place that holds them.

What the streets have told me over and over again is that wherever I am, the walk and the connection will remain. And that’s because the walk and the connection do not belong to the street. They do not belong to the space.

I land tomorrow in another country for a new street, looking forward to a new walk, new connections, and, most of all, losing myself in both space and time.

Until next time,
Carlo